AWKWARD ZOMBIE

Shit why didn't I think of that.

Edit: Also apparently you can randomly find Golden Bees? I'm not sure if you had to buy one first though.

The first half of the game is kinda short so that you can get the Master Sword quickly and so that you're forced to meet all of the sages before they're sealed away. The dungeons later on don't necessarily get larger, but you'll be spending a decent amount of time solving all of the puzzles and trying to unlock everything, especially finding the secret chest of each Lorule Dungeon.

As for the characters, ALttP had the same issue with making you care about them. If they were to try characterize them better, they'd have to put in a lot more encounters which would have to make it more linear, and the point of the game is how open it is.

For music, I think it's more that you remember the ALttP music more than the new tracks, because there are plenty of them and they're all pretty good. Personally I love Yuga and Hilda's themes.

Only gripe I have right now is that everything is a bit too deadly when you first get to Lorule. Since there's no set path to go, they're all scaled as if you have a decent number of hearts and upgraded weapons, so most enemies are knocking out 2-3 hearts each. It's refreshing, but I have to carry so many fairies "just in case".

I can only imagine how much of a pain this will make no death Hero Mode runs.

Also, Lorule bosses can be a major pain. be prepared to spend some time observing them to know all of their attacks, because they can surprise you if you're jumping in at them, especially when they "turn red" and get serious.



Yeah, it's just random. I think I found one, but I killed it before I realized it.

The Bee badge is wonderful. Just release 5 bees on a screen and have them go to work for you.

I put a bomb next to the first switch and ran. For the second switch, I hit it with the sword and placed a bomb a few ticks later and started running, giving me two switches worth of time. I don't remember clearly but I think the rest were either the same, or I threw a bomb over the bars.
Took me about 5 minutes.
Also the running brothers called me cunning, do they normally do that?

But you know what I DIDN'T get? How to get the boots. I said this already right? I am an compleet idort. It was only after jumping down the cliff and trying to press A thinking "Oh, that must be the catch him command or something" that I realized it was merge and it was so obvious in retrospect oh god.

Well, I've beaten the Thieves Town or whatever they called it, and I gotta admit, even though it was still pretty short, it was actually pretty fun, especially for an escort mission. The boss was also a lot of fun.

I know that A Link to the Past did not have a single interesting character. However, it did at least have something resembling a story that was not completely a rehash of a previous story, and it added a ton of content to the overall mythos of the series. And you can have well-developed characters without havign a completely linear game. Just look at Majora's Mask. That game was based almost entirely around exploring the world and meeting people, and it had some great characters.

Yes, A Link to the Past has some amazing themes in it. Many of those themes, such as the Lost Woods theme, the Dark World theme, and the Hyrule Castle theme, immediately imprinted themselves in my memory with their beautiful, memorable melodies. However, simply repeating those amazing tunes does not make this game's soundtrack good. Rather, I think it actually makes it worse, since the majority of the songs in the game are from previous titles. No matter how hard I try, I can't remember Yuga's or Hilda's themes. I recall thinking they were okay when I heard them, but now I can't remember a single note from either one.

I'm really not finding it that tough. Yes, some enemies can take off a couple hearts, but it's nowhere near as brutally difficult as the Dark World in A Link to the Past...which I think might be a bit of an improvement...*ahem* Personally, I'm still not finding it that difficult. I've only died once so far (to the boss of the Thieves' Town), and that was just because I forgot that I had a shield. The shield makes that fight waaaaaay easier.

The thing with Majora's mask is that it's story-centric and dialogue heavy, which is a necessity to develop characters. ALttP wasn't really anywhere in that direction. About the most exposition you got was from the maidens telling you backstory when you saved them.

Throwing a lot of dialogue into the game would be a turn off on the "play at a breakneck pace" kinda deal you have where the game is as fast as you want it to be.

There is the opportunity for sidequests to help fix that, but I'm not really sure how that'd work, unless they just gave you heaps of cheddar, since most sidequests give you heart pieces or optional items in other games.

As far as the difficulty goes, it might be because I just did the dungeons I happened on from cracks to Lorule. The first one I did was Turtle Rock which was annoying (and the first time I died to the boss), then I went to the Palace of Darkness which was much tamer. Then I went crazy and did the ice temple and died on the inside.

I wonder if there's a recommended order, since apparently the ALttP order is supposed to be impossible to do because the Sand Rod messes with things?

So after buying all of Ravio's items the way he walks and rubs his hands he looks like the pop flyin' Mask Salesman.

Or Rupin.

Oh, fuck, they brought back Skull Woods. Goodbye. Let's go check out that Palace of Darkness or something.

Please tell me, is there a single original dungeon in this game besides the Wind Palace place at Lake Hylia?

All dark world dungeons are just the normal dungeons backwards.

Turtle Rock is now in the dark Lake Hylia (Lake Lolia?) and the new Turtle Rock area is Icy Peak or something.

Also, Misery Mire is a desert oasis.

EDIT: I just beat all of the dungeons. For those of you worried about the Dark World Theme there's a second one when the sages are all saved, more traditional and heroic.

If what I've been told is true, beating Hero Mode gives information about the hinted Majora's Mask remake/???
Of course since I don't know what that info is I guess I'll have to beat the game again to find out and spoil you all.

Let's hope I can get a deathless Hero Mode run!
Also spoilers for the end.
I saw Hilda betraying you coming, and the wish on the Triforce, but dammit I loved it. But daisies, Ravio is Lonk, did NOT see that coming. (LOrule liNK)

Fucking loved the ending.

I figured that something was going to be up with Hilda. I've played enough Nintendo games to call the twist. Plus, I thought it was weird that she held off Yuga, and managed to get ahold of Zelda's portrait. If she was really fighting against Yuga, he'd kidnap her. That's how the princess thing goes in Zelda.

Also, knew Ravio was from Lorule, and I jokingly thought "Well, if it's Hilda and Zelda, maybe the reason he's called Ravio is because of the R and L thing in Japan. Wasn't really sure, but considering that Lorule was missing a hero, Ravio made sense.

Totally called the wish, especially since in ALttP the wish fixed everything, and I imagined they weren't just going to end the game with "Lol, Lorule is fucked."

Though, kinda makes me wonder why Hilda didn't think of that. After all, all powerful magical artifact. Probably can help with shit like this.

I can already see the fan-fics coming though with this whole concept. I'm wondering if Yuga saying "Her Grace" early on was a reference to their version of Hylia.

Also, this may just be the fanon talking, but is it possible that the reason Lorule mirrors the Dark world of ALttP is because this isn't actually the proper Kingdom of Lorule, but rather Lorule's fractured Sacred Realm? The Dark World was Hyrule's Sacred Realm that had been twisted by Ganon, but if Lorule's Triforce was destroyed, is it possible that they kingdom was forced into hiding in the crumbling Sacred Realm?

I just don't imagine Skull Woods, Misery Mire, and Thieve's Town being popular locales of the real Lorule. But if it's the remains of Lorule's twisted Sacred Realm, it makes a bit more sense.

why ain't the green guys zap you no more what the shit why ain't i swingin' my right arm at the east

this what ain't no real zeldas

There's a variant that does, they're a lighter green almost yellow color.